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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Zucchini Cornbread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Have you ever tried a dessert that purported to be better than sex and found it not to be? Today's bread falls into that category. It's nice, but I it won't make your world stand still - at least it didn't mine. It was so popular at a zucchini festival that event cookbooks sold out and had to be reprinted because everyone wanted the recipe. For better or worse, I have the recipe. Before I go any further, you probably should know I'm a harsh critic. Over the past year, I tested a couple of dozen recipes that never made it to the blog. They weren't popular recipes that were bad, they were risky recipes that didn't work out. There was no reason to needlessly hurt feelings so they hit the circular file rather than the computer. I cussed a little and moved on. Having said that, I must add that this is not a bad recipe, it's simply not a great one. It is, however, enough outside the mainstream to merit some attention, especially if you are looking for ways to use an over abundant crop of zucchini. It is high and moist and the zucchini makes the use of shortening unnecessary. It's strongly flavored. If you love basil that will not be a problem, but I thought the basil overwhelmed the corn flavor of the bread. If I make this again, and I might, I would lose the basil and use red and green peppers to provide heat and color instead. Here's the recipe for inquiring minds to do with as they please.

Zucchini Cornbread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:6 cups grated zucchini2 cupscoarse yellow cornmeal1 cup all-purpose flour3 large eggs, beaten1-1/2 cups milk2 teaspoons salt, divided use3 tablespoons sugar1 tablespoon baking powder2 tablespoons minced fresh basil (or 2 teaspoons dried basil)Directions:1) Place zucchini in a a colander. Toss with 1 teaspoon salt. Place a plate and a heavy can on top of zucchini to weigh it down. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Rinse and squeeze dry. Set aside.2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 x 2-inch pan. Line bottom with parchment or waxed paper; grease. Set aside. 3) In a large bowl, whisk or sift together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and reserved 1 teaspoon salt. In a small bowl, beat eggs, milk and basil together. Add to flour mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in drained zucchini. Spoon batter into prepared pan.4) Bake on lower shelf of oven until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan. Invert onto a serving platter. Remove paper, slice and serve. This is best served warm. Yield: 16 servings.

32 comments
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I like your comments about this recipe . I am not a big eater of corn bread anyway...and when I do make it , I like it fairly simple and moist. I like the idea of zucchini in it but like you, would tone down the basil even though I like it. So, I might give this a try, it is the season for corn bread with soups and chilies.

This post made me laugh, because something similar happened to me. I saw a show on the food network that made an upside down fruit cocktail corn bread. It was sweet..fuit, brown sugar, butter in pan...corn bread mix on top and bake in cast iron skillet. In theory, it should have been good, but in reality it did not work for me...looked pretty though. I think, like yours, this recipe was just not up my alley.♥, Susan

That's cool that the zucchini makes shortening less of a necessity. I love how high your cornbread is and that it looks like it wouldn't fall apart. That's the problem with my cornbread. Mmm, you are making me crave cornbread, even more than I usually do.

Did you intend to leave out butter or oil from the recipe? Maybe with a little butter to carry the flavor, your corn bread would work fine. Try using fine ground cornmeal instead of coarse which will help too.

Anonymous, the recipe I have doesn't call for any type of butter or shortening. I'm not sure there would be any traceable meal texture if a finer grind corn was used, but if I make it again I'll certainly give it a try. If you make it, let me know how the recipe worked for you. I really appreciate your input.

I appreciate that kind of candor. I'm much like you. So much "hyped stuff" leaves me wondering what the fuss was all about, and yet, at other times, I can be a huge fan of something others find not compelling in any way. I suppose we are all that way to a certain degree. Your bread does look wonderful, I must say.

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